Quotas perpetuating not wiping out castes: HC

Dr Khushalchand Baheti

Aurangabad, Aug 26: The Madras High Court (HC) has opined that the Constituent Assembly had envisioned the reservation system to be in force only during the infancy period of Independent India, however it is now being endlessly extended through repeated amendments perpetuating the caste system in the process.

The HC observed this while dismissing a plea by DMK party against the Central government on reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in All India Quota in medical college seats.

HC Observations :

*Rather than the caste system being wiped out, the present trend seems to perpetuate it by endlessly extending a measure that was to remain only for a short duration to cover the infancy and the adolescence of the Republic.

*Though the life of a nation state may not be relatable to the human process of aging, at over-70, it ought, probably, to be more mature

*It is high time that citizens are empowered so that ‘merit may ultimately decide matters as to admission, appointment and promotion' instead of the reservation system.

*The entire concept of reservation addressed by the Constituent Assembly may have been turned on its head by repeated amendments and the veritable re-invigoration of the caste system and even extending it to denominations where it does not exist.

(Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu)

High Court, Madras.